Sunday, January 25, 2009

Indian Ocean to see solar eclipse!

Fri Jan 23, 9:58 am ET

Ring of fire

A few lucky people in the Indian Ocean will be treated to a rare event when an annular solar eclipse will transform the Sun into a dark disc with a blazing ring-shaped corona around its rim. - (AFP/File/Jeff Haynes)PARIS (AFP) – A few lucky people in the Indian Ocean will be treated to a rare event on Monday when an annular solar eclipse will transform the Sun into a dark disc with a blazing ring-shaped corona around its rim.

In solar eclipses, the Moon moves between the Sun and Earth, casting its shadow on the terrestrial surface.

In an annular eclipse, a tiny shift in distance that results from celestial mechanics means the Moon does not completely cover the Sun's face, as it does in a total eclipse.

Instead, for those directly under the alignment, the Moon covers most of the Sun's surface, and a ring-like crown of solar light blazes from the edge of the disk.

For those watching from the fringe of the track, the Sun is partially obscured, as if a bite has been taken out of it.

According to veteran NASA eclipse-watcher Fred Espenak, the total eclipse track will run from west to east on Monday from 0606 GMT to 0952 GMT.

It will traverse the Indian Ocean and western Indonesia before petering out just short of Mindanao, the Philippines.

The partial eclipse will be seen in a much wider swathe, including the southern third of Africa, Madagascar, Australia, Southeast India, Southeast Asia and Indonesia.

It will be the only annular solar eclipse this year. The last was on 7 February, 2007, and after Monday, the next one will be on 15 January, 2010.

The big event for eclipse junkies this year is on July 22, when a total solar eclipse will be visible from India and China, the world's two most populous countries.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

A Year to Remembering Heath Ledger...

On January 22, 2008, we lost one of the brightest young talents in film. Exactly one year later, Heath Ledger has been nominated for an Academy Award for his astonishing performance in "The Dark Knight." To mark the occasion, here is a look back at his eclectic and all too brief film career. More here coming soon!

The Dark Knight

The Academy undoubtedly upset both critics and fans when it decided to overlook the Caped Crusader’s latest adventure. Perhaps voters felt it was too violent. It’s conceivable to assume that they’ve agreed to forever shun superhero flicks. Maybe they just miss Michael Keaton. Who knows? In any case, the $1 billion-grossing blockbuster deserved to be decorated for many reasons, including Christopher Nolan’s precise directing, the groundbreaking cinematography, and Heath Ledger’s trumping of Jack Nicholson as The Joker. And, hello? If “Titanic” can win Best Picture, doesn’t “The Dark Knight” at least deserve a nom?